[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

flick of her wrist. If he thought his pulse couldn t
beat faster when he saw the logs catch fire, it was
nothing compared to the rapid tattoo beating in his
chest now.  How the hell did you do that?
 With my mind. She took a step toward him, he
stepped back. She grounded her feet and stood
poised and waiting. For what, he didn t know.
He put a distance of several feet between them.
What the hell was she? Every word she spoke
repeated in his mind, every strange comment about
food, clothing or objects. Every bit of slang he d
explained, he d checked off to her being from a
different country, not a different time.  Why are you
here? Not that he believed in the time travel thing.
The jury was still out on that.
She stepped back, her expression guarded.  You
refer to her as Gwen Adams. Her real name is
Grainna. She is centuries old, condemned to live her
85
Catherine Bybee
life in an old and virtually powerless body. She too is
Druid. But evil. Evil beyond even your worst
criminal in this time. Myra moved to the window
and refused to look at him.  I believe she followed
Duncan and Tara back to my time and is there now
trying to break her curse.
 How does that involve you?
 I am a virgin and Druid. The combination is
what she needs to break her condemnation.  Tis easy
to assume Grainna is there. My mother had a vision
that I would die if I stayed in my time.
 You want me to believe you were sent here
from the sixteenth century to avoid being a
sacrificial virgin to some cursed old lady?
She winced.  Believe what you like, I am simply
telling you the truth. Tara was at risk from Grainna
when she was here. Duncan and Fin were sent to
keep Grainna from finding Druid virgins in this
time.
 So, what? All the missing women on the books
have been sent back in time?
 No, only Tara. There are few Druids left in this
world.
Todd went to his liquor cart and poured two
fingers of the nearest open bottle. He downed it in
one swallow then poured another.  Tara s a Druid?
 Aye.
 That would mean that Lizzy is...
 And her son Simon.
 And does Lizzy know this?
Myra shook her head.  I told her the day at the
park.
 Did she believe you? No questions asked?
She trembled.  No, she has questions, but she is
now open to hearing the answers.
He had questions, but knew himself well enough
not ask them, yet. If Myra was sucking him into her
delusions, asking her for more crazy answers would
86
Silent Vows
only feed her madness.
Slowly Myra turned.  I told you I would reveal
everything and I have.
 Hummph.
****
Myra had gone to bed hours earlier. Todd sat
with a bottle of whisky and stared into the fire
flickering in the night. Instead of chasing away the
shadows overwhelming him, he kept picturing how
the fire had been lit.
He searched for every conceivable loophole in
her story, struggled with her explanations and her
examples. If he only believed half of what he
witnessed, he had to believe she had some
telekinetic ability. Mind over matter.
The fireplace could have been rigged, but the
table? The remote?
Dammit! He couldn t wrap his mind around
what he saw, or how easy her explanations fit with
the facts as he knew them.
Why did it matter? Why did she matter? Had
she put some type of hex on him? Some Druid spell
that left him dangling? Is that why she had
burrowed under his skin to the point where he
dreamed of her every night?
Todd prided himself on keeping women at arms
length. He refused to allow anyone to get close as
long as he worked the streets. It wasn t fair to a
woman to stay up all night worrying about his well-
being. He remembered the long nights as a child
when his mother waited anxious by the phone,
waiting for his father to call. He promised himself he
wouldn t do that to another person. Ever. Yet here
he was, all but living with Myra. She made him
dinner every night, albeit mainly sandwiches, but he
didn t really care. She answered the phone when he
called, wistful and happy to hear his voice. Now this.
He had a boatload of shit piled high on his doorstep.
87
Catherine Bybee
Todd didn t know what to believe.
He downed the Scotch, looked at the glass, and
then let out a miserable laugh at the irony of his
choice of drink.
****
Lizzy was over half an hour late. Holiday
shoppers filled the crowded mall. Christmas carols
blared through the speakers of each shop and
courtyard. Harried parents pushed children around
in strollers and dangled bags upon bags of
merchandise.
If it wasn t for the sinking pit Myra felt in her [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]